Tijekom sljedeća četiri desetljeća glumio je glavne, sporedne i epizodne uloge u više od 200 filmova različitih žanrova i osvojio brojne nagrade na Festivalima u Jugoslaviji, Srbiji i šire. 1967. godine na Festivalu u Veneciji dobio je CopaVolpi za ulogu u filmu Jutro, P. Đorđevića. Najnagrađivaniji je filmski autor tijekom duge povijesti Pulskog filmskog festivala, dobitnik čak 6 Zlatnih arena za glumačko ostvarenje u 9 filmova:
1973. - Zlatna arena za najbolju mušku ulogu u filmovima Bombaši, P. Golubovića, Predstava Hamleta u Mrduši Donjoj, K. Papića i Sutjeska, s. Delića;
1975. – Zlatna arena za najbolju sporednu mušku ulogu u filmovima Crvena zemlja, T. Jankovića i Doktor Mladen, M. Mutapčića;
1977. – Zlatna arena za najbolju mušku sporednu ulogu u filmu Specijalno vaspitanje, G. Markovića:
1980. – Zlatna arena za najbolju mušku ulogu u filmu Rad na određeno vreme, M. Jelića;
1982. – Zlatna arena za najbolju mušku ulogu u filmu Savamala, Ž. Mitrovića;
1988. – Zlatna arena za najbolju mušku ulogu u filmu Kuća pored pruge, Ž. Dragojević.

Kultne uloge na malim ekranima ostvario je u brojnim i iznimno gledanim televizijskim serijama od kojih su najznačajnije: Kuda idu divlje svinje, Ivana Hetricha; DimitirijeTucović,E. Galića; Vruć vetar, Aleksandra Đorđevića i Policajac s Petlovog brda, M. Vukobratovića.2000. godine režira svoj prvi film Nebeska udica, koji se premijerno prikazao na filmskom festivalu Berlinu. Nataša iz 2001. i Konji vrani iz 2007. godine prikazani su na Pulskom filmskom festivalu.

Miljenik publike i glumačka ikona, Ljubiša Samardžić, ostat će zapamćen kao jedan od najvećih i najvažnijih filmskih autora s prostora bivše Jugoslavije. 2013. godine povodom velike 60. obljetnice Festivala, Ljubiša je u društvu glumice Milene Dravić i brojnih drugih kolegaposljednji put boravio u Puli. Njegov dolazak pred publiku je baš kao i toliko godina ranije izazvao ovacije.

Nakon svečanog otvaranja, u srijedu, 13. rujna u 14:15 sati održati će se panel "Drugačije kino". Sudionici panela su Daniel Rafaelić, ravnatelj Hrvatskog audiovizualnog centra), Sandra Malenica, zamjenica gradonačelnika Varaždina, Daniel Pavlić, Dom kulture Kristalna kocka vedrine, Jure Matičič, Mestni kino Domžale- Slovenija. Moderator panela je Boško Picula. Radionice koje pripremamo će na konkretnim primjerima i kroz potencijalne zajedničke programe pokazati neke taktike i strategije koje nam u tome mogu pomoći. Radionice će se baviti temama razvoja publike, promocije i marketinga te sufinanciranja filmskih programa. I na kraju, pridružit će nam se i distributeri koji će nam predstaviti naslove sezone 2017/18, a očekujemo i niz premijernih filmskih projekcija. Stoga, iako djelujemo u različitim okolnostima, imamo različite poslovne modele i programske vizije, upoznavanje s radom kolega može nas inspirirati, a suradnja osnažiti.

Zahvaljujemo na medijskoj pažnji!

At 9.30 p.m. the audience will be able to see Panta Rei (2016), a documentary account of an era through the eyes of actor and director Ljubiša Samanrdžić, who is also the producer of the film. Later on, at 11.30 p.m. the audience will be able to see Acting Hamlet in the Village of Mrduša Donja, a film from 1973, directed by Krsto Papić, with Samardžić in one of the roles.

It is our great pleasure to invite you to the screening of tonight’s films as part of P.S. Pula - Kaštel programme. This is a chance to honour the author and actor who has always been praised by the critics and loved by the audience, a fact which only reinforces the grandeur of his talent.

It is our great pleasure to announce the arrival of directors and film crew of the award-winning film King of the Belgians, Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth, on Wednesday, 9 August 2017 to the P.S. Pula - Kaštel programme. They will present their new film, a Belgian-Dutch comedy, an endearing satire about the clash of the worlds, in which the Belgian monarch, lost in the Balkans, is looking for his way home, but ends up finding himself.

The film has won many awards at prestigious film festivals - Venice Film Festival 2016, Filmfest Gent 2016, World Cinema Busan 2016, Thessaloniki International Film Festival 2016, Seminci Valladolid 2016, and International Film Festival Rotterdam 2017.

Directors Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth have already won awards for their three joint film projects, Khadak, Altiplano and The Fifth Season. The film Khadak won the Lion of the Future Award at the festival in Venice in 2006.

The filming of the sequel is planned to be in Istria, which we are especially happy about. It is therefore our great pleasure to invite you to come to the screening of King of the Belgians and get some film refreshment. We will be glad to see large numbers of audience there.

Let us enjoy film and art in an intimate setting of the summer cinema, and let us enjoy evening film screenings.

Welcome to P.S. Pula – Kaštel!

P.S. Pula - Kaštel, a film programme organised by Public Institution Pula Film Festival, was opened last night at the centre of the city, at the fortress at the Historical and Maritime Museum of Istia. The programme P.S. Pula - Kaštel is the last programme of the 64th Pula Film Festival.

Festival director Gordana Restović opened the summer cinema under the stars thanking the host on providing the beautiful venue, and everyone who has supported this programme, as well as the audience, of course. The seven-day P.S. Pula - Kaštel programme will run from 5 to 11 August, 2017. Restović also said event the titles of the films are a good reason for film lovers to come and enjoy films under the stars.

Ice Mother (Bába z ledu), a Czech film by Bohdan Sláma, which won the award for best script at Tribeca Film Festival 2017, and Smoke and Mirrors (El hombre de las mil caras), a Spanish thriller by Albert Rodríguez, which won the award for best actor at San Sebastian International Film Festival 2016, opened the first evening of premieres under the starry skies of Pula Kaštel in the presence numerous visitors and true lovers of valuable film achievements.

Dark Diamond (Diamant noir), the first feature film by Arthur Harari, which has won jury awards at Viennale 2016, Filmfest Hamburg 2016, International Film Festival Beaune 2016, International Festival of Screenwriters 2016, and the romantic drama The Correspondence (La corispondenza) by the well-known Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore, who has also directed many famous films, including Malèna (2000) and the Oscar-winning Cinema Paradiso (1988).

Screenings on the remaining evenings of the programme will include The Odyssey by Jérôme Salle, Trespass Against Us by Adam Smith, The Carer by János Edelényi, Bye Bye Germany (Es war einmal in Deutschland) by Sam Garbarski, King of the Belgians by Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth - who have confirmed their arrival, and will present the film in person on 9 August, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ang Lee, The Dancer (La danseuse) by Stéphanie Di Giusto, and Free Fire by Ben Wheatley.

Audience numbers indicate that the citizens of Pula and their guests like to go to the summer cinema at Kaštel, and we have no doubt there will be demand for extra tickets even on the last night, when screenings include the films Panta Rei and Acting Hamlet in the Village of Mrduša Donja by Ljubiša Samardžić.

Along with Festival director Gordana Restović, head of production Nataša Šimunov and the director of the Historical and Maritime Museum of Istria Gracijano Kešac spoke at the press conference.

After an introduction and thanking the host, director of Pula Film Festival, Gordana Restović, announced the continuation of Pula Film Festival, the seven-day P.S. Pula - Kaštel Programme. This Programme is recognisable to both the citizens of Pula and guests of the Festival not only because of exceptional films, but because of the venue itself: films are screened in the beautiful atrium of the Historical and Maritime Museum of Istria in Kaštel. This setting makes for an artistic, intimate atmosphere of watching evening screenings.

The films have been carefully selected by the artistic director of Pula Film Festival, Zlatko Vidačković. The selected films represent all of the genres and are characterised by special severity and author message. This is a chance to present to the audience quality, moving achievements in European and world feature fiction films, as well as an experience of watching the films under the stars. I believe the audience will be especially pleased with screenings of two films by one of the most loved actor, director and producer, Ljubiša Samardžić, on the final night. Ljubiša Samardžić has won six Golden Arenas in Pula, and has left a permanent mark with his work, making a considerable contribution in film art, Gordana Restović said.

Nataša Šimunov, the producer of Pula Film Festival, spoke about this year’s films in the P.S. Pula - Kaštel Programme, a total of 14 in seven days.

These are exceptionally well-received and appreciated films, which have all won awards at prestigious film festivals, and are certainly to be seen. From 5 to 11 August, the films will be screened as premieres under the starry skies of Kaštel. The first evening will be opened by the Czech drama/comedy Ice Mother (Bába z ledu), directed by Bohdan Sláma, and the Spanish thriller inspired by true events Smoke and Mirrors (El hombre de las mil caras), directed by Albert Rodríguez. Two films will be screened on each day, from 9.30 p.m. It is my pleasure to announce that the director of award-winning film King of the Belgians, Peter Brosens, will personally present his film on 9 August, together with his film crew, Nataša Šimunov said.

Ticket prices are 15.00 Kn per film. Tickets can be purchased at the following sales points: Kaštel - from 5 to 11 August (7.30 p.m. to 12 a.m.), Valli Cinema - from 1 to 11 August (during opening hours, and through online ticket sales on the official webpage of the cinema www.kinovalli.net, as well as online at www.pulafilmfestival.hr. At sales points, tickets can be purchased in cash only, while online sales is exclusive to credit and debit cards  (American Express®, MasterCard®, Visa, Diners, Maestro).

I am pleased that the Historical and Maritime Museum of Istria at Kaštel is once again the host of Pula Film Festival, and that quality film screenings will enhance the cultural and entertainment offer of the city. This means that this year’s offer, the most abundant yet -  including numerous concerts, theatre and stand-up shows, will also cater to film lovers. I would like to thank everybody who choose Kaštel as the venue for their programmes, including Pula Film Festival, giving the venue its special, important place in the cultural offer of the city of Pula, Gracijano Kešac said.

All international films will be screened with Croatian subtitles. Films in languages other than English will also have English subtitles.

Empty, which is not empty

The last exhibition of this year’s Festival - Prazno / Empty by Zlatko Kopljar - was opened on Friday at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Istria, within the side programme of Pula Film Festival. Zlatko Kopljar is an artist best known for his performances where he knelt on a white handkerchief, dressed in a suit, in front of art and financial institutions of the world. The exhibition consists of video works and installations, and the atmosphere was similar to one of a sacral building, with restrained, somber music, and light accents on only four exhibited pieces.

Museum director Ketrin Milićević Mijošek welcomed the visitors, saying that Kopljar has previously collaborated with the Museum, but that this is his first solo exhibition. Kopljar has been present on the Croatian and international scene since the 1990s, speaking about relevant and significant topics.

The Museum director then gave the word to the curator, Mladen Lučić, who once again opened with a joke, telling the visitors they were lucky to be able to come to the exhibition, seeing how Kopljar is known for closing down museum entrances. Lučić hinted to a performance in which Kopljar placed a huge concrete block at the entrance to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb, bringing to attention the relationship towards the museum as an institution, and talking about the barriers between artist and institution. Given that he is also familiar with the situation in world institutions (for example, he exhibited at the São Paolo Biennial), Lučić added that Kopljar examines art and the position of the artist in society, the role of centres of power, corporations, market, and marketing in dictating the trends - reminding the visitors of the performances Kopljar has had kneeling in front of centres of power in Beijing and Washington - and saying that, even though his expression is minimalist, his work is very expressive in the message the author wants to send through his work.

Zlatko Kopljar thanked the Museum and the visitors for their attention, and explained that the title of the exhibition derives from the pieces themselves. He started with a video piece, K16, created in 2012, where he asked questions of what is going on, how people think, and how people live in Croatia, on the edge of Europe and Western thought. He regards K18 important, as it is with this piece that he came full circle, from creating to destroying the entity he himself created; in it he wonders whether the job of an artist is to say “goodbye” to art every day. K20 Empty - Empty MoMa NY and Empty Tate Modern as their scaled down versions, models - and K21 Random Empty - which consists of two cement blocks on pillar bases - deal with the relationship towards institutions. By touching upon the issue of the materiality of the work, Kopljar said the cement is just a shell, something that surrounds the work, while the content is actually inside, it is immaterial, such as, for example, the space between two people, and it is up to us to wonder what this content might be, what is inside, and what meaning we give it.

The director of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Istria congratulated the author on the exhibition, and his overall work, and has also thanked the Festival and its artistic director Zlatko Vidačković, who attended the opening, as well as the County of Istria, the City of Pula, and the Ministry of Culture for their support.

The Grand Golden Arena for Best Festival Film was presented to the film A Brief Excursion, directed by Igor Bezinović, by production house Studio Pangolin, produced by Igor Bezinović. The Golden Gate of Pula, the Festival’s audience award, was presented to the film ZG80, directed by Igor Šeregi, by production house Kinoteka, produced by Ljubo Zdjelarević.

At this year's edition of the Festival, the most abundant yet, a total of 170 films have been screened, of which 88 premieres, across 15 different film programmes. This year, the films have been evaluated by four different juries: Young Cinephiles, FEDEORA, International Programme Jury, and the Croatian Programme Jury. The audience award and the film critics' award were also presented.

The next chance to see some of the films screened in the International Programme, screened as pre-premieres within the 64th Pula Film Festival, will be from 5 to 11 August, at the Kaštel, as part of the Festival’s P.S. Pula Programme.